With a population of 120,000 people, Olathe, Kansas is one
of the fastest growing communities in the country. Olathe has some of the
highest ranked schools in Kansas and Money magazine recently ranked Olathe
#11 on its list of the "100 Best Cities to Live in the United States."

This
guide to Olathe restaurants and tourist attractions has my candid comments
and recommendations for things to do and places to dine in Olathe. I am
a 23 resident of Johnson County, and have worked in Olathe for the past
18 years. The good news is that Olathe has several unique museums &
attractions and over 160 restaurants. The bad news is that most of those
restaurants are national chains that you could visit anywhere. This list
will help you find the interesting locally owned restaurants.

Most of Olathe's shopping is strip mall and/or big box:
Bass Pro, Kohl's, 2 Super Targets and 2 Super Walmarts. The largest concentrations
of retail stores are east of I-35 on Santa Fe and 119th Streets.

When it was built, the AMC Studio 30 Theaters with
IMAX was the largest movie theater in the AMC chain. The Studio 30 now
has "fork and screen" theaters for adults only where you can order a meal,
snacks or beer. The AMC Studio 30 is located north of 119th Street on Strang
Line Road. The tickets are slightly more expensive, but they include a
credit toward the food or drink purchase.

This page devoted to Olathe, Kansas is a work in progress.
Please
email your suggestions for
more attractions and locally owned restaurants to be included. Be sure
to tell me what you like best about them.

Austin's Bar & Grill is one of the few restaurants in Olathe serving
a full menu until midnight and appetizers until 1 AM. I am a fan of Austin's
hamburgers, which are half price on Mondays. They have a small fixings
bar where you select from about a dozen topping. But the Buffalo style
chicken tenders are my favorite.

Master Wok opened in early 2010. The prices are extremely reasonable
for a restaurant with table service in an attractive setting. At lunch
the menu includes 26 complete meals for $6.50 to $7.50 - complete with
the choice of fried or steamed rice, the choice of egg drop or hot &
sour soup and the choice of egg roll or 2 crab Rangoon.

Chapala is a Mexican restaurant with bright festive decor. The menu
is several pages long and has many inexpensive selections. I don't care
for Chapala's salsa (which tastes like just tomato sauce), but the chips
are good. I particularly like their fajitas and the "Especial Chapala"
which includes several meats is the best fajitas I have ever had. Many
meals are available for under $5.

Mom's Kitchen is a much more pleasant place to dine now that Olathe
has banned smoking. Mom's has a large, diner style menu and quick service.
The food is more consistent than special. Real mashed potatoes, chicken
fried steak, biscuits & gravy, and big 10 ounce hamburgers.

The original Mr. Gyro's Greek Food & Pastry has been on Metcalf
Avenue in Overland Park for 25 years. This is the 3rd location. For fast
food, the quality of Mr. Gyro's is quite good and reasonably priced. I
recommend the gyro chicken salad for $7.25 or a more traditional Greek
sandwich with pita bread, gyro meat, tomatoes, onions and home made Tzatziki
sauce for $5.35. The daily lunch special is a sandwich and small Greek
salad for under $8.

Downtown Diner is just a few blocks east of the Johnson County Courthouse
in Olathe, Kansas. The restaurant is owned by Rich and Sue Caines who used
to operate the restaurant at the Double Nickel. Rich runs the kitchen,
while Sue runs the front of the house. The Caines are doing a lot of things
right, including some great specially burgers, breakfast all day and excellent
smoked meats.

Old 56 Family Restaurant is like stepping back to 1956. It has a large,
diner style menu with interesting dishes that you are unlikely to find
at chain restaurants. Breakfast is served all day. Old 56 has some of the
best chicken soup I have ever had and good chili.

Old 56 Family Restaurant,
912 South Chestnut Street. Olathe, Kansas 66061 (913) 390-9905 . Last visited
in October 2017

Fifty Fourth Street Grill and Bar is the only Kansas location for this
Kansas City based regional chain. I've enjoyed the food during two recent
visits. Although the French fries were only average, a burger was large
and cooked to order. The Cabo Chicken Philly (third of a pound of thinly
sliced chicken breast, topped with pepper jack cheese, bell peppers, onions,
jalapenos. Shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, with a sour cream spread on
a torpedo roll) is large & very good.

Sam's Tastee Treat began as a Tastee Freeze in 1963. The menu includes
over 40 flavors of shakes, plus items as diverse as chili dogs, cheeseburgers,
burritos, crab rangoon, and egg rolls. The food is fair, but except for
the sundaes and malts, I really go here for the atmosphere and tradition.
Cash only!

Five Guys serves fresh hamburgers with no preservatives, cooked to
order - not fast food! Toppings like grilled onions or mushrooms are available
at no additional charge. The French fries are fresh and cooked in peanut
oil. Yes, this is a chain restaurant, but I think these are some of the
best hamburgers in Olathe.

Five Guys, 14965 West 119th
Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062(913) 780-4987. Last visited
in May 2018

Sheridan's Frozen Custard started as a single popular frozen custard
shop in Overland Park in 1998. Today there are 25 stores in 8 states. They
use Carvel custard machines manufactured up to 50 years ago. My favorite
is the butter pecan "concrete," soft custard that has had flavorings mixed
in. Forest J Ackerman the inventor of the phrase "sci-fi," and former editor
of Famous Monsters of Filmland, absolutely loved Sheridan's Custard.

Go Chicken Go - The first Go Chicken Go was started in a Kansas City,
Kansas gas station in 1969. Today there are 5 locations run by the same
family including this one in Olathe, Kansas. The fried chicken is very
good, but this restaurant is known for its fried chicken gizzards and hot
"G-Sauce." Open until 11 PM on Friday and Saturday.

Smokin' Joe's B-B-Q - The daily lunch special at Smokin' Joe's is good
value: $9 including tax for a large BBQ sandwich, well cooked crinkle cut
French fries and soda. Or get the same deal on ribs, only on Mondays. Place
your order with the friendly people at the counter and the food comes out
fast. Open since 1989.

Haru's Steak Sushi Place is the oldest Japanese Restaurant in Olathe.
This contemporary sushi bar and steakhouse has a $9 sushi dine in lunch
special which includes soup or salad and the choice of two sushi rolls
from a selection of 15. The salad has a flavorful, slightly citrus dressing
with a hint of peanut. The sushi rolls which I tried, spicy crunchy crab
roll and BBQ eel avocado roll were both very good.

Sakura Sushi Train II - Opened in May 2015. This is the second location
for Sakura, which has had Sakura Japanese Restaurant in Shawnee, Kansas
for many years. We have only tried this new location once so far, but enjoyed
what we had and the prices for the items carried on the train are quite
reasonable. Special orders are more expensive.

Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que is the new name of Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue.
This location became the second Oklahoma Joe's restaurant in 2005.
The original Joe's is in a working gasoline station in Kansas City, Kansas.
But the Olathe location is much larger and has a BBQ supply store across
the parking lot.

Sylas & Maddy's Homemade Ice Cream makes 150 flavors of
homemade ice cream, and features 40 of them each day. I've only tried a
few flavors, but have liked every one that I have tried. There are just
a handful of small tables with chairs.

Johnny's BBQ in Olathe, is the second Johnny's location in Johnson
County. Johnny's has good specials and I think the best one is the Friday
lunch special: BBQ Ribs with fries, bread, pickle, and a regular drink
for $9.49. 4 ribs, which is a generous serving of meat for the price.

Tea Garden has a high quality lunch buffet, superior to any other Chinese
restaurant I have tried in Kansas. The food turns over quickly and is always
fresh and good. I am really like their appetizers: dumplings, garlic
chicken wings, crab Rangoon and others. Only $7.50 including beverage and
tax. The atmosphere is pleasant and the walls are lined with wonderful
photos from China. The staff at Tea Garden provide good, friendly service.

The Other Place American Sports Grill & Pizzeria is part of a small
chain with 7 locations in Iowa and 2 in Johnson County. The interior is
designed to reflect sound and is loud even when few people are there. The
food is pretty good. The large hand breaded country fried tenderloin with
gravy, real mashed potatoes and corn ($7.50) is great. The pizza is fine,
but servings are small for the price. Longer
review and more photos.

The Other Place, 16590 West
135th Street (Santa Fe), Olathe, Kansas 66062 (913) 397-0057. Last
visited in April 2019

Advanced
Laser Tag has a 2 story, 6,000 square foot laser tag arena with an
observation deck. A new laser tag game starts every 15 minutes. Or the
facility can be booked for special events such as corporate team building,
church lock-ins or birthday parties. My company took all of our managers
there for a competition and everyone talked about it for weeks.

Indian
Creek Hike/Bike Trail is almost 17 miles long, with about 6 miles in
Overland Park, Kansas. The bike path is generally level and flat, but often
beautiful as it follows Indian Creek through various parks. It connects
to other hiking and bicycle trails in Kansas City, Missouri and Johnson
County, Kansas. On the other side of Olathe, Mill Creek Streamway Park
has another 17 miles of trails going all the way to the Kansas River.

Bass
Pro Shop opened its first Kansas City store in Olathe in February of
2007. In addition to sports equipment, hunting & fishing gear, the
Olathe Bass Pro Shop has a prairie dog display, river bottom habitat and
a 12,000 gallon aquarium with Kansas fish such as bass, blue gill and catfish.
Seafood is available inside the store at the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant.

Johnson
County Old Settlers is over 100 years old and Olathe, Kansas' biggest
event of the year. The three day festival is held on the Thursday through
Saturday following Labor Day. Old Settlers includes free entertainment,
a carnival, children's performances, arts & crafts, auto show, and
one of the largest parades in Kansas. The community looks forward to the
food vendors each year and some folks just go to Old Settlers for the grange
pups or walking tacos.

Johnson County Old Settlers
downtown Olathe, Kansas

Buddy
Rogers Playhouse - The Olathe Community Theatre Association (OCTA)
offers live theater productions in the former 1870 Covenant Church. The
2010-2011 season included Our Town, David's Mother and others.
Tickets for all shows are $15 for adults. Some special events are less
expensive. Charles 'Buddy' Rogers was born in Olathe, and their annual
awards are called the Buddy Awards in his honor.

Mahaffie
Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site in Olathe, Kansas
is the only Santa Fe Trail stagecoach stop that is open to the public.
There are three 19th century buildings as well as several 20th century
and reconstructed buildings. Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop hosts Wild West
Show & Bullwhacker Days in September, and a Christmas Open House
in December.

Cedar
Creek Fallsis formed by an overflow dam on
Cedar Creek in southwest Olathe, just above Lake Olathe. There is a flow
of water year around, but Cedar Creek Falls is most impressive in the spring
or after a heavy rain. Lake Olathe is a 170 acre lake surrounded by a 208
acre community park dedicated in 1959.

Cedar Creek Falls 143rd Street,
Olathe, Kansas 66061(913) 971-6263

Marra
Museum of Deaf History and Deaf Culture has two exhibit halls and
tells two stories. The first half of the museum is devoted to Deaf culture
and the second half is devoted to the history of the Kansas School for
the Deaf. The Deaf community is composed mostly of those who have been
deaf since birth or very early childhood. Sign language is the first language
of those people who identify with Deaf culture and community.

Cedar
Lake Fallsis located in the spillway just
below the Cedar Lake dam on the south side of Olathe. Cedar Lake is a 75
acre lake surrounded by a 54 acre community park which was originally dedicated
in 1920. Cedar Lake has fishing for blue gill, black bullhead, channel
catfish, crappie, green sunfish, largemouth bass, saugeye, wiper &
flathead catfish.

Olathe
Memorial Cemetery has many interesting features and is the burial site
of governors from various states. In mid October there are evening tours,
where visitors meet the ghosts of those buried in Olathe Memorial Cemetery.
Visit the graves of some of Olathe's founders and meet the people who rest
here as they come alive to tell their stories including Bloody Kansas and
the Civil War.

Christmas
Card Lane is an entire subdivision of homes with extravagant Christmas
decorations, tied together thematically by giant Christmas cards with greetings
from each family. Over 200 hundred homes are decorated with Christmas lights
and luminaries. Most cars touring Christmas Card Lane turn off their headlights
and creep through the subdivision. Open evenings from Thanksgiving through
New Years. Free.

Christmas Card Lane North
of 151st Street along Frontier Lane & Butterfield Place, west of Ridgeview
Road in Olathe.

Penguin
Playground is a family Christmas display with nearly 150 lighted
figures. Many of the figures move, some play music, and there are even
penguin videos playing on the roof. This is one of the largest Christmas
Displays in metropolitan Kansas City. This is a Christmas display that
you will want to get out of your car and walk through. I think the Penguin
Playground will blow you away.

Ensor
Park and Museum is a seasonal museum devoted to teacher, craftsman
and amateur radio operator, Marshal Ensor. Marshall taught industrial arts
in Olathe, Kansas from 1915 to 1965. The seasonal museum occupies the Ensor
family farm buildings and 8 acres of the former farm. Ensor Farmsite is
both a National Historic Site and on the Register of Historic Kansas Places.

Summer
Concert Series - The Olathe Parks & Recreation Department sponsors
an annual series of free outdoor concerts in various Olathe locations
on selected Friday evenings. Sponsored in part by the Olathe
Ford RV Center, the 2018 concerts included performances by 531st Air
Force Band and Liverpool.

Ernie
Miller Nature Center and Park off Highway 7 has 3 miles of trails
open for hiking from Dawn to Dusk. The 113 acre park has an outdoor amphitheater,
large stream aquarium, bird feeder court with butterfly & hummingbird
gardens, and other exhibits including live amphibians, turtles & snakes.
Over 170 species of birds may be seen at Ernie Miller Nature Center during
various seasons of the year.

Olathe
Veterans Memorial Park is a lovely four acre park which memorializes
the men and women who served the United States in the armed services. The
park has a brick walk in honor of lost submarines and park benches, but
the neatest individual memorial may be the Four Chaplains Memorial, which
was dedicated to 4 chaplains from the American troop transport ship, Dorchester.

Traditions Fire Company and Museum,
The Great Mall of the Great Plains, 20175 W 151st Street #175, Olathe (913)
829-4319

Welcome
Home! Cowboy Boots!was
a public art exhibition of 12 6 foot tall fiberglass boots that were designed
and created by area artists. They were displayed during the Olathe's 2007
Sesquetennial celebration. Some of the Welcome Home! Cowboy Boots!
remain on exhibit in Olathe. The Hyer-KSD Connection
remains on display at the Kansas School for the Deaf at 450 East Park Street,
and the Read Any Good Boots lately? boot is displayed within
the Olathe Public Library at 201 East Park Street.